Okay to begin with, I know this is an odd question, but I've been reading The Flavor Bible and they mention an experiment where they made pancakes, pureed them with milk so it looked like batter again, then squirted that onto a frozen griddle to firm them back up. What would happen if you cooked this mixture again? Would you get bubbling? Would it burn right away?
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4The only thing I can think to say is, why not just try it and see what happens?– lemontwistAug 4, 2012 at 12:07
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@lemontwist I probably will, when I get some free time, but I was curious if anyone had any science-type answers– YamikuronueAug 5, 2012 at 15:04
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Egg firms up from cooking due to various proteins binding together and forming a tangled mass that traps water molecules inside. I believe that flour has some solidifying properties under heat as well, but not nearly as much. Both these reactions are chemical reactions, changing the molecular structure (or making bigger molecules as they bind together). Puree-ing seems to be a mostly mechanical separation. I doubt it would solidify the same way, and you would see faster burning. The bubbles come from baking powder reactions...so I'm also guessing few bubbles.– Eric HuAug 11, 2012 at 2:18
1 Answer
When you cook it, the mixture would go from firm to melted as the temperature increased above the freezing point. Also, your egg proteins that previously held it together will have already been denatured (no way to undo this step mechanically) with the first cooking episode so I'm not aware of anything that would hold the batter together once it melted unless you added more egg. Also, you would not have the bubbles expected in pancakes without adding more baking soda/ powder (as previously mentioned) or putting the mixture in a siphon with nitrous. Either way, probably not a very pleasing result unless you put the batter in a siphon, charge it up, freeze it, and make sure it remains frozen until consumed. In that case you would have frozen pancakes not much different than freezing the original subject other these would melt into a mess with the consistency of the batter upon thawing.